Alias: The Complete 2nd Season (DVD)

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Victor Garber as Jack Bristow almost always steals the show in every single scene he appears in. From being a distant father to Sydney early in the first season to becoming her self-appointed personal protector now, Jack has transformed himself and perhaps tries to atone for his lack of parental attention towards Sydney´s life when she was younger. Garber´s magnificent performance with his menacing stare and his unflinching focus to the job at hand sends chills down my spine. Not to be left out is the outstanding comedic talents of Kevin Weisman as the SD-6 tech guru, Marshall Flinkman. Single-handedly, as Marshall, Weisman brings comedy to a whole new level on the show. I can´t remember the last time I laughed so much at a single character. At every operations meeting at SD-6, Marshall´s op-tech presentation is the event that I most anticipate. While Q has to deal with Bond´s wisecracks, the rest of SD-6 has to deal with Marshall´s pronounced eccentricity. New to Season 2 is perhaps the series´ biggest lure to date, Lena Olin. Although she has an extensive body of work, Olin is virtually an unknown due to her small supporting roles in various movies. As the villain Irina Derevko, Olin can be cold-blooded and intimidating one moment and motherly the next. She is the perfect complement to Victor Garber´s Jack Bristow. Jennifer Garner is by and far, the undisputed star of the show, with not only her high-flying kicks and physically challenging stunts, but her brilliant acting performance as well. Acting with such a strong supporting cast, Garner is able to bring out great performances as the emotionally-conflicted daughter of Derevko, looking for assurance from a long lost mother while at the same time, looking behind her back for that knife that may appear at any time.

If you enjoyed Season One of "Alias", Season Two is many times better. The plot gets more intriguing and intense and is able to suck you in to experience the world of Sydney Bristow, albeit for 42 minutes at a time. Every episode presents new surprises and unexpected twists, giving its audience a compelling reason to look forward to the next episode. For the many fans out there, "Alias" has been a guilty pleasure that is hard to resist. With Season 2, the show simply reaffirms its position further.

Well, thank you for visiting us at AA and do grab a complimentary pair of X-Ray glasses on your way out. See you next Sunday at 9pm.

Video:
"Alias" is presented in the show´s original aspect ratio measuring 1.78:1. Its anamorphic video is clear without any visible artifacts and just a slight grain in scenes shot in low light. Skin tones and general colors are natural and sharp but the black levels are a bit too high, losing some definition along the way. It is hard to find fault with the video quality and it compares favorably to the previous season´s DVD release. Overall, it offers a solid video presentation that justifies the quality of the series. Only Spanish subtitles are available, together with English captions for the hearing impaired.

Audio:
To go along with an impressive video presentation, the show´s Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio mix is a good companion and a joy to experience. Although I would have preferred much more dynamic activity in the surround channels, the audio track generally performs well enough to give the audience a sense of atmospheric intrigue. Surprisingly, no other audio track is made available, not even an English Dolby Surround 2.0 mix.

Extras:
On Disc 1, there is a set of "Sneak Peeks" for "Hidalgo", "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Alias Season 3" and the "Alias" video game.

A total of 4 audio commentaries are included as bonus material. On Disc 4, you will find a commentary for the episode "Phase One" featuring JJ Abrams, Jennifer Garner, Jack Bender, Greg Grunberg, Michael Vartan and Victor Garber. Then on Disc 5, there is an audio commentary on the episode "A Dark Turn" with Ken Olin, John Eisendrath, Jesse Alexander and Jeff Pinkner. The rest of the extra features can be found on Disc 6. Coincidently, the other two audio commentaries included in this DVD set are for the final two episodes of Season 2, which puts them on Disc 6 as well. On the penultimate episode titled, "Second Double", you can hear commentaries by director Ken Olin and actors Bradley Cooper, Carl Lumbly and Terry O´Quinn while on the season finale, "The Telling", audio commentaries are by series creator JJ Abrams, director Ken Olin and actors Merrin Dungey, Ron Rifkin and Kevin Weisman. Not much can be gleaned from these commentaries except for some interesting tidbits of information regarding these two episodes.

The first bonus material is "The Making of ´The Telling´", which is an inside look at the planning and filming of the final episode for Season 2. It consists of interviews with Abrams and the cast and an in-depth look at the stunts performed for that episode. Next we have a feature called "The Look of Alias" that is essentially a piece that chronicles the various costumes and wigs used by Jennifer Garner in every episode. You will hear interviews with Garner, Abrams and the show´s hair stylist, make-up person and costume designer. In "Deleted Scenes", seven such scenes from the cutting room floor are resurrected in anamorphic widescreen. No commentaries are provided with these scenes but there is a handy "Play All" function. Anyone who loves bloopers will enjoy the "Season Two Blooper Reel", which consists of line flubs, practical jokes and stunt mistakes. An audio-only feature comes to us in the form of "KROQ´s Kevin and Bean Radio Show Interviews". You get to hear audio interviews from the radio show with JJ Abrams, Victor Garber, Kevin Weisman and Jennifer Garner (from Season 1). Also included as a bonus feature are seven brief TV trailers for the following episodes: "Passage Part 2", "A Higher Echelon", " The Getaway", "Phase One", "Looks Can Kill", "Truth Takes Time" and "Countdown". Video game enthusiasts can tune in to the next feature, "The Making of the Video Game", an insider´s look at the making of Acclaim Studios´ "Alias" video game. In it you will find interviews with the cast member who provide the voiceovers for the game and also the British game designers from Acclaim Studios. Last but not least is "Alias Scripscanner", a DVD-ROM feature.

Packaging:
The Season 2 DVD set comes in an attractive package. The exterior box holding the six discs that are contained in 3 regular 2-disc DVD boxes, is nicely decorated with the hand-drawn portrait of Sydney from the Rambaldi artifact shown in Season 1. Over this box is a clear hard plastic cover with an image of the Bristow family, Sydney, Jack and Laura (aka Irina Derevko). One more nice feature of the packaging is the design of the spine of the 3 DVD cases that combine to make up an image of Garner in a martial arts pose. Overall, this packaging is far superior and more eye-catching than Season One´s rather ordinary offering.

Film Value:
"Alias" is a rare breed on television. Seldom will we find a successful combination of action, drama, romance and suspense rolled into such a masterful package. I will be the first to admit that some of the scenarios that Sydney gets herself into are probably too far fetched to be realistic but that is also exactly the same reason why the James Bond movies are so popular. Combine the back-stabbing action-packed SD-6/CIA plotlines with Sydney´s struggle with her parents´ individual motives, her growing feelings for her handler Vaughn and her evolving relationship with her best friends and you get an almost perfect show that just has something for everyone.